Revelation 16:1-9 | The First Four Bowls of Wrath

Revelation 16 confronts us with the first four bowls of wrath and the sheer scale of judgment poured out on a world that has chosen the beast over God. We wrestle with the hardest question the chapter raises: whether God can be truly loving while also being truly just. 
• Revelation 16’s setup and why the bowl judgments escalate beyond the trumpets 
• Bowl one bringing painful sores on those with the mark of the beast 
• Old Testament echoes from Deuteronomy and the plagues of Egypt 
• Why dogmatic end-times assumptions can blind us to biblical parallels 
• Bowl two turning the sea to blood and the civilization-level fallout of total marine death 
• Bowl three striking rivers and springs and the angel’s declaration that God is just 
• The argument that love and justice belong together and the cross proves it 
• Bowl four scorching people with fierce heat and the refusal to repent 
• The chapter’s grim center: judgment recognized yet mercy rejected 

Transcript

Why Revelation 16 Shocks Us

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Well, thanks for joining as we continue in our study of Revelation. We're in chapter 16 where we're going to see God begin to pour out his wrath on an unbelieving world. And we're going to cover the first four of seven bowls of wrath in this episode. Now this chapter is similar to the trumpet judgments that we read about back in chapter eight, but only here they're much worse. And as a side note, as we go through this chapter, keep in mind that most people who don't believe in God find it hard to believe that God would punish mankind. There are even some Christians who have difficulty with this concept, and certainly some pseudo Christians or people who identify with simply being spiritual, and even skeptics argue that an all loving God wouldn't punish humanity. And maybe you should even ask yourself, what do you believe? Well the book of Revelation tells a different story than what many of those people think, and this chapter certainly describes a different story.

Bowl One And The Beast’s Mark

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So let's jump right in with verse one which reads Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God. So John hears a voice from the temple, the same temple that in the last chapter, if you remember, no one was allowed to enter, because the glory of God filled the temple. But the voice now commands the angels who were given the seven bowls to go and pour out these bowls of God's wrath on the earth. And so now beginning with verse two, we're going to see that these bowls are about to be poured out. And in verse two we read So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. And so it begins. The first of seven bowls of God's wrath is poured out, and it results in harmful and painful sores upon those who worship the beast and took his mark. But notice that those who refuse to worship the beast, those who refuse to take his mark are spared. These sores are reserved only for those who bear the mark of the beast or worship him. And these sores, these boils remind us of the warning God gave to Israel for their disobedience. In Deuteronomy twenty eight twenty seven we read The Lord will strike you with boils of Egypt and with tumors and scabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed. And also in verse thirty five, the Lord will strike you on the knees and on the legs with grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. And so just like in that chapter God promised blessings for Israel's obedience, he also promised these curses for disobedience. And we see a very similar thing happen in Exodus chapter nine, when the Egyptians would not free the Hebrews, where God struck the Egyptians with sores, even on their animals and their sorcerers. And just to be clear here, the sores that are described, they aren't like a small scab or a bug bite sort of a thing. The Greek word used here is helkos, a wound or a wound that produces a discharge, like an oozing pus, it's more like an ulcer. And these sores are putrefying and they will not heal. And so what we see here in Revelation is that the punishment sort of fits the crime. Those who take the mark of the beast receive another mark on their skin as punishment. Now we discussed the mark of the beast in an earlier chapter, but even if this is not an actual physical mark that you can see on your skin, the sores and the boils on the skin sort of represent an outward physical manifestation of an inner disease. God will reveal physically what man has become spiritually utterly corrupt, and the disease here being sin and a spiritual rottenness.

Egypt Parallels And Rapture Caution

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Now as we go through these seven bowls of God's wrath, pay attention to how they recall the plagues on Egypt, and also consider and remember this. Just like God protected the Hebrews during the plagues of Egypt, here in Revelation, He will also protect believers during these coming plagues and judgments. Now I'm not going to go down the rapture rabbit hole here, but also consider something else. God protected the Hebrews during the plagues on Egypt, but he did not remove them from Egypt until the plagues were completed. And so in Revelation, believers may very well be here during these plagues that we're going to read about. And I say that not to challenge anyone's eschatological beliefs about the end times or their belief in the rapture or anything, but just to draw your attention to the parallels that we see between Egypt and what we see here in Revelation. Because one of the dangers in holding so dogmatically to a belief that may not be correct is that when it doesn't go down like you believed it would, you may start to question the truthfulness of the Bible or be blind to the truth that's staring you right in the face. And so for example, Jews don't believe Jesus as the Messiah. They don't believe he was because he didn't fit their beliefs about what the Messiah would do or how he would do it. They misinterpreted their own scriptures about the Messiah and read into Scripture what they wanted to believe and missed the truth, holding dogmatically to their misplaced ideas and their expectations, and they continue to do so. And the danger of that is because of their unwillingness to open their mind and their eyes, they're missing their Messiah. And for us, holding so dogmatically to a belief that may be incorrect, it places us in danger of doubting the word of God or truth claims of Scripture. It's a very slippery slope, and so again, just pay attention to the parallels here between Revelation and Egypt as we progress through these bowls of wrath.

Bowl Two And A Dead Ocean

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But let's move on now to the second bowl of wrath in verse three where we read The Second Angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea. And so the second angel pours out his bowl into the sea. Now this judgment is similar to the second trumpet judgment if you remember that back from chapter eight, where the sea was also impacted. Back in chapter eight we read that the second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. And this judgment also echoes the first plague in Egypt in Exodus chapter seven where the waters became like blood. But the difference here is the level of severity and the deadly results from this judgment. And so notice the escalation from the trumpet judgments to the bull judgments. Earlier only a third of the sea was affected, but now the judgment is total. The difference is in severity. It's not just a third of the living creatures of the sea that die. This is referring to every living creature in the sea. This isn't simply an environmental disaster. It's a judgment of such severity that it signals the end of human history is rapidly approaching. And John also tells us here that the sea became like a blood of a corpse. Well, what does that mean? What does the blood of a corpse even look like? Well I can tell you, it's coagulated and it's rotten. It's a very grim image. And think about what would happen if all marine life suddenly died. Life cannot continue much longer with this type of devastation. If all sea creatures, like the fish and the well, I mean even the plankton and corals, if all the sea creatures in the ocean suddenly died, humanity would face a catastrophic civilization threatening crisis within months to years. I mean it's one of the worst disasters imaginable. Because the oceans contain countless forms of life. I mean, think about it. Fish, wells, dolphins, the coral reefs, like I said, the plankton, and even all the microscopic organisms that sustain the entire marine ecosystem. And what we would see is that within days or weeks, billions of tons of dead sea life would begin to decompose. I mean the oceans would become vast regions of decay. They would produce toxic gases, foul odors, there would be enormous dead zones. I mean you certainly wouldn't be enjoying that nice ocean breeze any longer, that's for sure. I mean you think about it, even the coastlines around the world, they would just be littered with dead marine life, creating health hazards and making just many of the coastal regions virtually uninhabitable. But it may be that the greatest concern wouldn't simply be the loss of seafood. I mean you consider the marine plankton. They play a critical role in Earth's life support systems. I mean much of the oxygen that we breathe, it's connected to these ocean based organisms. And so the death of these marine ecosystems, it would disrupt severely the balance that sustains life on this planet. And if you think we've got a global warming problem, think about the oceans and how they help regulate Earth's climate. I mean, they absorb vast amounts of heat and carbon dioxide. And without healthy oceans, weather patterns would become increasingly unstable. Food supplies are going to be devastated. And this isn't even considering the food supply. About three and a half billion people rely on seafood as a significant source of their protein needs. Fisheries, they would collapse overnight. Nations would simply struggle to replace that food supply. There would be economic consequences that would be staggering. I mean entire industries connecting to fishing, shipping, tourism, any kind of coastal commerce, it's going to suffer catastrophic losses. And so the result is going to be worldwide economic turmoil, you're going to have food shortages, and eventually social instability. In other words, when the oceans die, civilization itself is placed in jeopardy. And we could talk more about this, but hopefully that just gives you a little insight so that you can better appreciate the magnitude of what John is describing here. These are not localized disasters, these are global judgments that affect the very systems that sustain human life. And Revelation is showing us that God is systematically dismantling the world that has rebelled against him. And these seven bowls are the final outpouring of God's righteous wrath as the world moves toward its

Bowl Three And Blood To Drink

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destiny. But let's press on now with the third bowl in verses four through seven where John continues by saying, And the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel in charge of the water say, Just are you, O holy one, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments, for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve. And I heard the altar saying, Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments. And so we see now the third angel pours out his bowl on the rivers and springs, and they turn to blood as well. And if you remember the trumpet judgments back in chapter eight, we saw that the sounding of the third trumpet turned one third of the rivers and springs bitter, but again, the difference now is in the level of destruction. It's no longer one third. It's complete devastation. And also once again, this reminds us of the plagues on Egypt, where God turned the waters into blood, making their water undrinkable. And just to be clear, what we're talking about here is the fresh water systems. We've already discussed the oceans and the seas, but now this is focused on the sources of fresh water. And so whatever this looks like, we know that life on earth is just not possible for much longer. In addition to all of the consequences of the oceans being destroyed, we know that life can't survive much longer without drinking water, and so once again, John reminds us that the end is near. But here in verse five, the pouring out of these bowls is interrupted by a declaration of an angel.

Love And Justice In Tension

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Due to the severity of these judgments, it sometimes raises the question of righteousness, and as I mentioned at the beginning, skeptics and critics will argue that if God is truly loving and merciful and compassionate, then how could he pour out judgments that kill millions of people? They destroy the oceans and bring such suffering. That doesn't sound loving. It actually sounds cruel, and I would never worship a God like that. But something to keep in mind is that love and justice, they're not opposites. In fact, I think that many Christians would agree that a God who is only loving but never judges evil is not truly good. I mean, even as flawed humans, we understand this. We want murderers and rapists and human traffickers, we want them to face justice, and we praise judges who punish evil, and we criticize judges who let evil go unpunished. And we're actually seeing that at unprecedented levels today. And so the Christian response is that God's love doesn't eliminate his justice. In fact, his justice is an expression of his goodness. And it's also important to remember that all of this in Revelation occurs after a tremendous amount of patience. God has been patient with humanity for thousands of years. He repeatedly sent prophets, he repeatedly caused people to repentance, and he ultimately sent his own son. And here even during Revelation, people are warned again repeatedly before the final bowls are even poured out, and so this is not just some sort of a knee jerk reaction from God, but his final response after prolonged patience. But it's important to always remember this. The God who pours out judgment here in Revelation, it's the same God who took judgment upon himself at the cross. And Revelation depicts a sort of a unique end of history judgment. It's not God's ordinary way of dealing with humanity. But again, skeptics often remain unconvinced because they believe that an all loving being would choose a different course. Well, Revelation itself anticipates this question because after the bold judgments, here in verses five through seven, heaven repeatedly declares that God's judgments are true and just. In other words, John knows that readers are going to be stunned by the severity of these judgments. The Bible's answer here is not that these judgments are small, but that they're deserved. And it seems more and more that in our modern day, we've conjured up this image of God as this warm, cuddly father figure and Jesus as this meek, mild, all loving, tolerant of everything, forgive everyone of everything friend who, according to the recent ad campaign, gets us. And so sometimes we need to be reminded of who we're actually talking about here, the all powerful, holy creator of the universe. Now whether a person accepts that answer, it ultimately depends on their view of God and sin and justice and human accountability. And that's why Revelation sixteen forces readers to wrestle with a difficult but an unavoidable question. Is God merely loving or is he both loving and just? And if he's both, then the cross and the final judgment, they're not contradictions. They're two expressions of the same holy character. And the angel in charge of the waters here declares that God's judgments are just and righteous. And the angel has a perspective that we don't. He's seen it all, and he can stand and declare God is just and true. And in addition to the retribution for all of the blood of the prophets and the saints that evil people have spilled, now they will have blood of their own to drink.

Bowl Four And Scorching Heat

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But let's continue now with the fourth angel in verses eight and nine where we read And the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory. So the fourth angel pours out his bowl, and he empties it out on the sun. And we see here again another echo of the trumpet judgments from back in chapter eight. Back there, the fourth judgment, it darkened one third of the sun, moon, and stars. It also echoes Egypt. Again, that was a judgment on the Egyptians worship at their sun god Amanre, and we discuss what that could mean, but here it appears that the sun's heat is intensified so that people are scorched with fire. I mean they're somehow burned with an intense heat, and again, we also see the difference between believers, those who follow Christ, and those who take the mark and worship the beast. Because here people are scorched with fire from the sun, whereas in the new creation where believers will be with Christ, there's no longer even a sun at all. Revelation twenty one tells us and I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb, and the city has no need of a sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light. Now, how will God accomplish this judgment? I'm not sure. Some believe it will be by depleting the ozone layer. Others believe this judgment is symbolic rather than an actual physical intense burning from the sun, but it's honestly difficult to discern here. I mean, if you start trying to make it symbolic, any meaning of symbolism here, it just seems to be conjectural, and so whatever it is, the torment here is terrible. In Isaiah twenty four six, there's a reference to people being scorched, where it says therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left. And Malachi four one also says, For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evil doers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts. But it's so bad that people lash out and blaspheme God's name. And just like verse nine tells us, rather than repent and glorify God, who has the power over these plagues, they continue in their rebellion, lashing out and cursing the name of God. You know, Proverbs nineteen three says that a person's own foolishness leads him astray, and yet his heart rages against the Lord. And that's exactly what we see here. Because whereas these plagues could serve to remind people that they're separated from God, that their relationship with God is severed because of their sin, they refuse to listen or repent. Even until the very end, those who have been running from God their whole lives refuse to listen. And just like Pharaoh refused over and over again to listen during the plagues inflicted upon Egypt, people here will learn nothing from history and they'll make the same mistake.

The Real Tragedy And Final Warning

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And so these first nine verses, these first four bowls in Revelation sixteen leave us with a sober in reality. The greatest tragedy in this chapter, it's not the sores, it's not the seas turning to blood or even the scorching heat of the sun. The greatest tragedy is that people see the judgment of God, they know where it comes from, and they still refuse to repent. And every bowl of wrath in Revelation points to a truth that's just as relevant today as it will be then. And just like skeptics today who claim there's not enough evidence to believe in God, their problem is not a lack of evidence, it's a hardened heart. But the same God who will one day judge the world is the same God who today offers mercy through Jesus Christ. The door of grace is still open, but it will not remain open forever. And when that final day comes, the question is not whether God's judgment is coming, it is. You can be certain of that. The question is whether you'll meet that day covered by your sin or covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.